Surfacing the Wasteboard on Your Longmill

Learn how to surface your wasteboard of your LongMill. We’ll be covering the basic technique on surfacing that can be applied to wasteboards as well as other materials.
Find pre-made code for all LongMill sizes here:
sienci.com/dmx-longmill/surfa...
Learn more about Sienci Labs at sienci.com/
Get a 22mm surfacing bit from our website here: sienci.com/product/22mm-surfa...
Why surface your wasteboard?:
Surfacing your wasteboard helps level the surface in relation to your machine. This means that if you have bumps or uneven surfaces on your wasteboard, or if your wasteboard is higher on one side that the other, surfacing will even out and flatten the board.
Cleans off old marks and scars, leaving you with a new, clean surface to glue, clamp, and mount your workpiece.
What tool should I use?
Technically, any flat end mill or bit can work for this application. However, using a wider bit can speed up the process. In the video we are using a 22mm surfacing bit.
Generating the code:
If you want to use the premade g-code, find it here:
I used a gcode generator from INTUWiz (www.intuwiz.com/plane.html#.Xi.... Here are the settings I used for my 30x30:
The center of the coordinates is in a point: 1
Side a: 762
Side b: 762
Tool diameter: 22
Y overlap percentage: 45
Total depth of cutting: 1
Depth of cutting per pass: 1
Feed rate (X,Y G00): 2000
Feedrate (X,Y, G01): 2000
Feedrate( Z G00): 500
Feedrate(Z G01): 500
You can also use a different program if you want and cut a shallow pocket of the size you need.

[@glitcheee-tp7ed]

Great video. Lots of useful information. Now to find one for surfacing with gSender.
Only thing I wasn't a fan of with the video was tightening the surfacing bit in while holding the lock button on the router. I would highly discourage doing that and using the two wrenches that come with the Makita router.

[@SienciLabs]

That's very true Gatcha, thanks for the comment

[@janfoss-pedersen3905]

Thank you Andy for this video it helped allot it took awhile to figure a few things out but I got it to work and it worked great!!

[@SienciLabs]

Anything for you Jan :D

[@vopter8712]

Thanks for the video. I found the maximum reach on my Longmill to be 740mm for X and 845 mm for Y. It’s closer to 29 x 33 inches than 30in square. You enter 762 mm per side in the program, which would be too wide for mine. But later in the video UGS is actually using 740 for x, so hm.

[@DanielLawrence]

What spindle speed were you running here?

[@SienciLabs]

I cannot remember off the top of my head, but 15-20k RPM is a good area to set your speed to.

[@andreaj2602]

Hi, Did I miss the part where the g-code is added to UGS?

[@SienciLabs]

I might have skipped over it for this particular video, but the process for every project is the same. You can probably watch this other video where it is shown (ruclips.net/video/Q-sfK-QxwzQ/видео.html)

[@andreaj2602]

@@SienciLabs I was able figure out that I just need to open the file.

[@edmilham4172]

Complete fail on my end. I told INTUwiz to take off 0.5mm. Checked the gcode to make sure that was right. The router immediately dove about 5mm deep into my wasteboard and went merrily on its way, turning almost a quarter inch of MDF into sawdust. Dust boot and shop vac couldn't even come close to handling that. Then one of my Y-axis controllers quit about a third of the way through the job. I don't have the energy at this point to troubleshoot it, beyond at least learning that it wasn't the motor, itself, fortunately.